The U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced this week that it approved a total of 214 bidders for the upcoming 700MHz auction,  which is due to start on Jan. 24.

While many big telecom, cable and Internet companies are listed as auction participants -- including Google, AT&T, Alltel, Verizon (listed as Cellco Partnership) and Cox Communications -- a larger part of the list consists of smaller local carriers  such as Central Wisconsin Communications, Buffalo-Lake Erie Wireless Systems and the West Wisconsin Telephone Cooperative.

The auction, which the FCC initially approved last April, will sell the rights to operate on 62MHz of spectrum on the 700MHz band that will open up after television broadcasters switch to digital transmissions in February 2009. The FCC has divided the spectrum into four separate blocks for commercial use, labeled A, B, C and E, as well as a “D block” that is reserved for the construction of a high-speed public safety network. The most valuable piece of spectrum up for grabs is the 22MHz “C block,” whose reserve price has been set at $4.6 billion. By contrast, the reserve prices for the remaining four blocks range from $900 million to $1.8 billion.

In addition to its high reserve price, the C block has garnered a significant amount of attention because the FCC last year mandated that the spectrum's licensees are prohibited from blocking or slowing Internet traffic from their competitors, and must also allow any devices to connect to their network. The open-access rules for the C block were a source of controversy when first proposed, as AT&T had initially expressed skepticism about the rules, and Verizon at one point filed a lawsuit to halt the auction. Verizon eventually dropped its suit, however, and announced late last year that it would give customers the option of connecting to its network through outside devices.